Policies – or lack thereof

During a public meeting on Sept. 30, 2010, Strathcona County Council heard George Cuff’s independent review on the Jason Gariepy incident.

In response to the questions that Council asked Mr Cuff to investigate and report on, Council received the following: (pages 24 to 26 of the report published Strathcona County Website:

1. “The Chief Commissioner “acted in good faith in response to an incident but did not have the authority to suspend Councillor Gariepy’s communications”.
2. Councillor Gariepy “may have broken policies” regarding Discrimination and  Harassment,  as well as Respectful Workplace….but according to Cuff, these policies do not apply to elected officials. Cuff went on to say that while “he may have broken  the Council Code of Ethics”, the Code was not adopted by Council as a Policy.
3. In summary Cuff reported that Gariepy’s actions do not suit a member of Council.
4. Cuff found that “while there have been examples provided of behaviour that should not be associated with members of Council, this behaviour has not been a violation of any County policies directly attributed to members of Council.”

In my opinion, the above sends a clear message to this governing body and future Councils: an absence of a clear guiding policy gives carte blanch to elected officials to run rough shod over those they rule and each other.

I am saddened that personal integrity and promising to abide by the Strathcona County Council Code of Ethics has no weight. There are no consequences unless a clear and concise policy is in place.

The report went on to summarize and give recommendations. Here in lies the real value of the report.

The findings brought to light many deficiencies that when corrected will make this a more efficiently run organization, eliminating the kind of abuse of the system and misuse of public funds that I have been fighting this past three years. 

This Council and those before us have been in error in not seeing this weakness in our system. Clearly, adopting these recommendations for creation of an elected officials’ respectful workplace policy will make this a safer environment for staff and each other.

The seven recommendations include developing a clearly worded policy on the powers and authority of the Chief Commissioner regarding Council, refining the existing press release policy, and clarifying the Mayor’s authority in respect to councillors’ behaviour. I would only add that I believe there needs to be a clear document on the roles and responsibilities of both Mayor and Councillors.

The report and the recommendations have been accepted by this Council. We now throw the torch – full of challenge and opportunities – to the new council.